cortosvscostosaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“cortos” and “costosa” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,876
“cortos” frequency rank
#18,203
“costosa” frequency rank
23079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cortos costosa
Definition Forma del plural de corto. Forma del femenino de costoso.

Where the eye mixes cortos and costosa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cortos runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against costosa's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
cortos
7 ch
costosa

Look-alike desk: cortos vs costosa

A purely visual mix-up. cortos ([ˈkoɾt̪os]) and costosa ([kosˈt̪osa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cortos is recorded at frequency rank #4,876, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkoɾt̪os]. costosa is at rank #18,203, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kosˈt̪osa].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 23079, this pair ranks #247,474 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cortos vs costosa

Shared letters: cost. Private to "cortos": r. Private to "costosa": a.

"cortos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "costosa" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cortosccortos · corots · corrtos · cortoss · cortso · corttos · cotros · crotos
  • costosaccostosa · cosotsa · cosstosa · costoas · costossa · costsoa · costtosa · cotsosa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cortos" and "costosa" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkoɾt̪os] versus [kosˈt̪osa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cortos" or "costosa"?
"cortos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,876 in our Spanish list, against #18,203 for "costosa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cortos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "costosa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #247,474 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cortos" and "costosa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "costosa vs costra". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #247,474 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list